Refractors are special.

[doublevodka]

5 minutes ago, JOC said:

 There seems to be a maximum magnification that is useful in the UK anyway 

I've seen in the past a figure of around 200 times magnification quoted with the average seeing conditions in the UK which would make some sense. There are nights when more is possible when the seeing, transparency etc all behaves, but these seem to me to be getting a bit more rare, although the weather over the last 12-18 months has been particularly rubbish in my area at least.

That looks like a lovely little Vixen frac by the way, although I definitely have a bit of a bias toward more retro-looking kit.

I have a bit of a random selection of kit a the moment, but the fracs always deliver something a bit different, maybe it's the increased contrast, maybe it something else, but the view is just more pleasing I guess

[Saganite]

1 hour ago, Alan White said:

I think @JeremyS must have only shown one half of his Tak collection, 
That or else he has far more to add yet 😉

Those six Tec 180 made me have a similar reaction to @Sunshine

Andromeda could have had a dome Steve, but it would be outsized for uk planing no doubt and not count as a temporary building.

And so far thank goodness no one has started posting finders as an entry.......,ooops that has done it now.

I couldn't put a dome around that pier Al because it would have exceeded the  8' max height allowed in close proximity to a neighbours boundary.  The pulsar dome which is around that pier now is a 2.2m diameter and just under 8', so is fine...

[JOC]

25 minutes ago, doublevodka said:

That looks like a lovely little Vixen frac by the way, although I definitely have a bit of a bias toward more retro-looking kit.

Thank you, I picked it up some years ago through SGL classifieds.  It's a Vixen 80S I think from the 1970's ish, but that's all I know about it.  I don't know if it's anything 'special' or filled with any sort of special gases, but I do know, as I wrote above, that I was amazed that it almost gave me a better view of the planets than the bigger dob. did - it was so very clear and sharp!  I got the little revelation prism (which it finally dawned on me that I'd need over and above what you need for a Dob LOL!) and it needs a size converter to make that fit and added the little red dot finder (I get on better with red dot finders better than plain optical ones as it came with), but I can still fit the whole lot in a medium sized cheap plastic tool case (with its baby folding tripod) with some suitable bits of foam and I have actually taken it on holiday when I've been somewhere dark - it's been to the Isle of Cumbrae and also to a darker spot in Kent near Romney Marshes.  

Edit - Just been reading up online - there seems more info. out there now than when I got it.  The general concensus seems to be that it sold in 1970/80's for 700USD (now - £550 ish) that seems a lot for such a small scope so long ago,  It must have been reasonable quality??

Edited February 7 by JOC

[Mr Spock]

Small refractors (4") come into their own in average seeing. However, when seeing is reasonable, size matters 

[dweller25]

14 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Looking over your fracs more closely I can’t help but ask, doesn’t the TSA 120 make the FC100 and TSA102 redundant? or do you have specific uses for all? I wouldn’t dare ask @JeremyS this question 😅

The TSA102 and FS128 have gone to new homes leaving the TSA120 which I plan to wear out from overuse 👍

Then when I’m old and decrepit I will start using the FC100 🙂

[JeremyS]

13 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

The TSA102 and FS128 have gone to new homes leaving the TSA120 which I plan to wear out from overuse 👍

Then when I’m old and decrepit I will start using the FC100 🙂

Following that trend you should invest in an FS 60Q before Tak stops making them, David. 😊

[johnturley]

37 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

The TSA102 and FS128 have gone to new homes leaving the TSA120 which I plan to wear out from overuse 👍

Then when I’m old and decrepit I will start using the FC100 🙂

Out of curiosity, how did you find the TSA 120, compared to the FS 128.

John 

[dweller25]

40 minutes ago, johnturley said:

Out of curiosity, how did you find the TSA 120, compared to the FS 128.

John 

The TSA is shorter, lighter and more expensive 🤣

The FS showed more vibrant colours when viewing the planets and doubles, which I liked.

The TSA is better corrected for colour and planetary views are cooler looking than in the FS.

Cool down time is the same for both.

 

Edited February 7 by dweller25

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

Following that trend you should invest in an FS 60Q before Tak stops making them, David. 😊

Good try but 100mm is as low as I go 🙂

[Sunshine]

Just now, dweller25 said:

Good try but 100mm is as low as I go 🙂

No, i bet if they made a cute little 40mm Tak you would have to buy one, a keychain Tak! 

[dweller25]

Just now, Sunshine said:

No, i bet if they made a cute little 40mm Tak you would have to buy one, a keychain Tak! 

Nope, my telescope buying days are over 🤣

[doublevodka]

18 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Good try but 100mm is as low as I go 🙂

Use the 60 as a finder for the 120? 🤣

[Swoop1]

Until last year, my scopes were a 150mm Newt and a 150mm SCT.

I then obtained a pre owned RVO Horizon 72ED- my first refractor.

The clarity of the views through the Horizon were far superior to those through either of my other scopes when doing deep sky. 

I love my Horizon.

Having said that, my future (all things being equal and a rich relative leaving me a wedge of readies in their will), may contain a 9.25 or higher SCT for lunar and planetary work. 

I could also be persuaded that aperture fever with refractors is a genuine medical condition only cureable by giving in to it.

Edited February 7 by Swoop1

[dweller25]

2 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

I could also be persuaded that aperture fever with refractors is a genuine medical condition only cureable by giving in to it.

This 👍

[Space Hopper]

50 minutes ago, Swoop1 said:

I could also be persuaded that aperture fever with refractors is a genuine medical condition only cureable by giving in to it.

I consider mine 'cured' at 140mm, and certainly wouldn't consider anything bigger now, and neither could i realistically manage it size-wise as it more or less maxes out my mount as it is.

I'm also at an age where i'm struggling at looking at very high up objects : even with a sub 1 meter focal length the eyepiece can get uncomfortably low. One of the few pitfalls

of alt-az mounts i guess.........ok, so i can extend the tripod legs a bit to mitigate, but then i'll end up needing a step to view lower down objects, so its a bit of a balancing act at times.

 

Heres my offering from downtown Colorado, and its mounting partner from a few states away down in Florida. This snapshot is from our local darksite in Leicestershire last August  just waiting for it to get dark

before commencing a Lunar and planetary session.

The tripod is a Berlebach Planet which has made a huge improvement to stability and dampening times.

Potential tipping hazards are no longer a concern, which had always been a worry with having no counterweight if a big gust of wind came along.

 

I'm now what i consider to be a 100% visual viewer aside from the occasional lunar / solar prime focus image with a dslr.

I had intended to try a bit of imaging, but feel less inclined now given advancing years, shift work commitments and everything else like needing a big heavy mount,

with the set up / take down, and dodgy UK conditions. I'm more inclined to look at getting another 90-110mm class scope with a shorter focal length and pair it up with an AM5 etc if i were to go down the imaging road.

Maybe when i have retired.......😀

 

But i love my current scope. Its an excellent performer, only limited by UK skys and the users eyesight.

I've also 'deleted' the issue of collimation, and cooldown from the worry list. Regarding cooldown, and it being a big triplet, with it being 'oiled' and the elements being in contact with each other, it actually behaves like a 'singlet optic'

and will reach cooldown quickly and as fast as any other doublet or similar. At the very most the scope will give its best in as little as 30-45 mins. Thats a big plus for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Swoop1]

21 hours ago, Highburymark said:

I’m a confirmed refractor man. Here are most of my refractors, past and present... TSA-120 .....

 

With that triple tube ring and saddle set up, the ex military in me really wants one.....

Very much the sort of thing that I could imaginge coming out of an armaments lab somewhere.

Edited February 7 by Swoop1

[CCD-Freak]

My largest "Frac" is an ES127ED and it is happily riding on an AP900 on a Todmorden pier at my SRO dark site.  The guide scope is an old University Optics 80mm F6.25 "Kit Scope".

[Deadlake]

Slight topic diversion, but I do not see many APO scopes larger than a 130-140 mm aperture in the UK. 

The seeing in the UK does not support large apertures or is it the high magnification? 

There are deeper, more star rich views in a large mirrored scope, however the joy of seeing the night sky is just more when using a APO due to the sharpness of the image.

Always tempted to go up to 160-195 mm, however I feel I'd never get the use.

Back to the glass candy, here is a 130 mm LZOS triplet on a AZ100.

The AZ100 has tracking installed. and is on a TPod 110 tripod. 

For me this is a must for high power work.

First time I had a BB chair, does make all the different.

Taken in Surrey Hill, under SQM 21 skies (well they where later that night)
 

Edited February 7 by Deadlake

[Alan White]

I know of a circa 200mm APO set up near me, its of a very high quality from the US.
The owner has publicised it in the very dimmest past.
I was very lucky to look through it and wow what a peach.

UK seeing does limit it, as does most UK pocket depths no doubt, 
he has a second observatory with a 120 instrument set up.

Both of the above are visual use mainly instruments as well, warms my heart that.



 

[John]

At least a couple of SGL members have 7 inch plus apo refractors as I recall, @stuy who has a 228mm F/9 and @DirkSteele who has a 180mm F/7. Both are APM / LZOS triplets.

There are probably others too 🙂

Roger Vine (Scopeviews) has this 175mm F/8 TMB/LZOS (I think it is his own instrument):

TMB APM LZOS 175 Review (scopeviews.co.uk)

You don't see much about the larger Astro Physics, TEC or CFF refractors on here, I agree.

Edited February 7 by John

[JeremyS]

4 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Good try but 100mm is as low as I go 🙂

@John said that for years, but succumbed in the end 👍🏻

[dweller25]

13 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

@John said that for years, but succumbed in the end 👍🏻

Maybe a 75mm 🤣🤣🤣

[JeremyS]

2 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Maybe a 75mm 🤣🤣🤣

Gotta be 76. Bit closer to 100.

Then the only decision is DCU or DS 😊

[Deadlake]

50 minutes ago, John said:

At least a couple of SGL members have 7 inch plus apo refractors as I recall, @stuy who has a 228mm F/9 and @DirkSteele who has a 180mm F/7. Both are APM / LZOS triplets.

There are probably others too 🙂

Roger Vine (Scopeviews) has this 175mm F/8 TMB/LZOS (I think it is his own instrument):

TMB APM LZOS 175 Review (scopeviews.co.uk)

You don't see much about the larger Astro Physics, TEC or CFF refractors on here, I agree.

@DirkSteele told me his 180 mm was around £1000 a view as it does not get out much. 😀

So from consensus around 180 mm is the larger limit in the UK?

 

As far as large scopes, saleries do play a big part and salaries like for like are higher in the US then the UK even taking into account health care costs. The decrease in the electorates spending power due self inflicted mortgage rate increases, for example by the popcon does not help…..

Edited February 7 by Deadlake

[Sunshine]

3 minutes ago, Deadlake said:

@DirkSteele told me his 180 mm was around £1000 a view as it does not get out much. 😀

So from consensus around 180 mm is the larger limit in the UK?

Oh wow, you barely use it?